Morcha wants two-tier panchayat polls - Hill party eyes grassroots consolidation with rural elections

Bimal Gurung. File picture

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 30: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has said it is agreeable to a two-tier panchayat system in the GTA area, at least for now, as it feels such a measure is necessary for the party to tighten its grip at the grassroots level.

Since 1993, the Darjeeling hills have only a two-tier panchayat system comprising gram panchayats and panchayat samity as GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh sought the removal of zilla parishad which he considered a threat to the authority of the DGHC headed by him.

While interacting with the media in Darjeeling yesterday, Morcha president Bimal Gurung said: "We are thinking about going in for two-tier panchayat elections. At the moment, there is no representation at the lowest form of governance."

The zilla parishad was abolished in the hills through the 73rd amendment to the Constitution in 1992. However, the state government held elections only to 112 gram panchayats in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong in 2000. No polls were held to panchayat samities because of objections from Ghisingh who thought they would erode the powers of the DGHC.

However, no rural elections have been held since 2005 as Ghisingh insisted that the panchayat system could be put in place after the hills were accorded the Sixth Schedule status, which never happened.

Since then, the rural bodies have been lying defunct and all development works are being carried out by the district administration.

In 2007, the Morcha replaced the GNLF as the dominant party in the hills. The rural elections are still held up as the Morcha wants the restoration of the three-tier panchayat system. In the memorandum of agreement for the establishment of the GTA, signed on July 18, 2011, it was mentioned that the hills would have a three-tier panchayat system. But that has not been implemented so far as it requires a constitutional amendment.

"The state government has written to the Centre for amending the Constitution. The issue will be taken up once again during the next tripartite meeting (of the central and state governments and the Morcha) which is likely to be held in the second week of January," said a Morcha leader.

According to sources in the state government, there are no hurdles in the way of holding elections to the two tiers as it requires only the panchayat department's nod.

The Morcha is no longer willing to wait for the amendment to take place and is willing to accept, even if temporarily, the two-tier panchayat system since it wants to control all rural development activities.

"In the absence of the panchayat system, all rural development activities are controlled by block development officers who report to the district magistrate and the Morcha has no role to play in it," a Morcha leader said.

"If we have elections to the two-tier system, the Morcha will definitely win, given our popularity, and the party will control all rural development activities."

This, the Morcha believes, will help the party consolidate its strength at the grassroots level in the hills.

"However, the three-tier panchayat system is our ultimate aim even though we are willing to settle for a two-tier rural body for the moment," said the Morcha leader.

Another Morcha leader said: "Instead of having no representation at the grassroots level, it will make sense to have our elected members running the show and this will also go a long way in further strengthening our party."